Tokka One Hundred
by TributePotterhead
Summary: I decided it was about time to do a Tokka 100! Review and enjoy!
1. 2: Past

#2—Past

The sudden blast still rang in her ears. Though this was a lasting effect for a while, it too faded. What didn't fade was the shock that the ricocheting particles had hit the man she loved. The man she loved but never got the chance to tell. The heartbreak would hit her at random times of the day. It would hit her and double her over with pain and make her fall to her knees.

She visited him every day. Though he was broken and mangled, there was no other place she would rather be. She sat on the side of his bed and whispered to him, telling him every part of her day, in the hopes that he would wake up. She often left the hospital doing something that was not in her character to do: crying. Toph never cried. She never let her emotions show through the healthy coating of earth. But this was different. This was her best friend. The man she loved. This was a matter bigger herself, bigger than anything else. This was life or death.

Her mind played over what happened over and over. It played over what would have happened if she weren't there.

_The evening sun melted into the horizon. Toph's booming voice echoed around the clearing. She was saying something, but Sokka wasn't paying attention, he was too preoccupied with counting the vague colors in her blind eyes. _

_Something flew through the air and exploded mere feet in front of the pair. Sokka pulled Toph behind him and he took the brunt of the damage, the majority of the ricocheting debris. Within a second of taking the debris, Sokka fell to the ground in a heap. His labored breathing was one of the only sounds in the small clearing for a moment. _

_ She couldn't shake the feeling that all this happened because of her. The fleeing faces of the cowards that had bombarded them with explosives were ones she recognized from the Earth Rumble Six. They were the faces of the opponents she had squashed beneath her unfaltering rock._

_ Toph stretched her arms out beneath his mangled body and lifted with her back, making Sokka groan and blood spill over her arms. She ran as if her life depended on it. It did._

_ When she entered Ba Sing Se's walls, her arms were completely covered in thick blood. She couldn't decipher where anything was from the excess in footsteps and vibrations. She was beginning to get a headache. But she carried on even still. This was a matter bigger than herself._

Toph thought she saw him move. "Nurse!" She said excitedly. "Nurse, he moved!"

"I'm sorry, but he didn't." The nurse said, crushing all of Toph's hopes.

Toph spent her day doing something she had never done before: praying. She begged Oma and Shu to let Sokka wake up. To let him come back to her. She begged until her eyes were red and her voice choked. This was unusual for her. Toph never begged.

Despite the amount of begging and pleading, the Spirits let Sokka lay unconscious even still. Were they trying to teach Toph a lesson?

Toph sat by the side of his bed day by day, talking to him. Just boring drabble. But one day, she said something a little more meaningful. "Sokka, I love you."

The days dragged on and dragged Toph's hopes through the mud along with them. As the days came to a close, Toph's hopes would return, battered beyond belief, and give her a false sense of security that would only flee the next morning.

Toph hadn't been to the academy in nearly a month. She had told her assistant that she would be gone indefinitely. When she would be back was not the real question, if she would be back was. The future held so many options that Toph would drive herself insane thinking of them. These options were hardly euphoric. They were generally grim in nature and ruthless by design.

After about a month, Toph's hopes were completely gone, not. The prospects of Sokka awakening were slim, if not absent.

It took root inside of her. Its odd sensation left her confused. It was not something she experienced often, almost not at all. Although she denied its existence, it was still present on occasions. Rare occasions that would leave her body shaking and tears streaming down her face. This was one of those occasions, an occasion that was both hostile and stressful.

Sokka lay there, beaten and scarred, broken and mangled, on the hospital bed. His labored breaths cut into Toph like sharp, icy daggers. Her eyes were wet with—what was that? Tears? No, no, Toph doesn't cry.

She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, getting nothing in return. The tears streaming down her face became more desperate, more heartbroken. She wanted so badly for him to come back. Toph felt like she couldn't breathe; her desperate demeanor turned to hysteria and a nurse had to escort her out.

After a month of hoping in vain, Toph let all of her hope go. There was nothing she could do and she hated it. She hated feeling helpless. She hated the pathetic feeling of being useless.

As if on cue to bring hope alive again, Sokka's bright eyes snapped open. Katara excitedly walked into the hall, greeted by Toph and Aang's gloomy faces. "He's awake!" she said.

Toph jumped up, hope returning to her veins. "Really? Can I see him?" she didn't wait for a response, she just ran to her friend's room. "Sokka!"

"Who are you?" The tribesman asked.

Toph's face fell. "Your best friend." She muttered quietly. "Um, I'll be right back."

Katara jumped up excitedly. "How is he?"

"He doesn't remember me." Toph said, sadness entering her voice and a small tear running down her face.

Katara opened her arms. Toph walked into them, burying her face into her shirt. "I'm so sorry Toph." Katara said before the realization hit her. "That means her probably doesn't remember me and Aang either."

"No, I'm sure he'll remember at least you Katara. He has been stuck with you for most of his life."

Toph sat solemnly as Katara went to visit her brother. Aang accompanied the Waterbender, leaving Toph alone to her own thoughts. Putting her head to rest on her fist, Toph let out a long sigh. She could hear the laughing coming from the direction of Sokka's room. He obviously remembered Katara.

Toph could hear footsteps. Whoever it was, she didn't want to talk. "Hey Toph. Great news, he remembers me!"

"I noticed Sugar Queen." Toph said, blinking back tears. Even though her tone was harsh, Katara could tell she was masking the hurt.

Just then, Aang walked out into the small lobby the two girls were in. "Hey guys. Can you believe it? He remembers me!"

Toph couldn't hold it in anymore. She stormed out of the lobby and left the hospital in tears once again. Aang and Katara exchanged a surprised glance and ran after their Earthbending friend. It was too late, Toph was already gone.

"Think the fact that Sokka remembers us and not her hurt a little bit?" Aang asked his girlfriend.

"I don't know. This is Toph we're talking about." The Waterbender replied.

Aang thought about it a moment. "Yes but even Toph has feelings."

Her feet pounded the sidewalk, tears poured down her face. He didn't remember her, he didn't remember that she loved him. Toph felt vibrations in the sidewalk. "Go away Twinkletoes. Why don't you go spend some time with Snoozles and talk about some fantastic memories?" The blind girl said before her throat locked.

"Toph. I'm eighteen years old. Do you think we can stop with the nicknames?"

"Nope. Not gonna happen." Toph said.

Katara caught up with her boyfriend to see Toph's back turned to him. "Toph, I'm sorry about that. I just got so excited that my brother remembered that I didn't think about your feelings."

Toph turned her face to Katara a moment. "And you really think I didn't notice?" she said. "That didn't hurt too badly actually."

"Really? Because you sure seemed mad at me."

Toph sighed. "I was, but something else hurt a little more."

"What would that be?" the young Avatar asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it."

It's time to let go of the past and move on.


	2. 39: Fear

#39—Fear

Sometimes the world tries to take it out of you. You have to be fearless to be able to withstand the constant pressures the world puts on you. She tried to do this. She tried with all she had to fight the emotions and keep them locked up inside. She tried to be fearless. The thing was, that she didn't understand what fearless truly was.

Being fearless is not to have any fear, it's to have fears but live in spite of them. Being fearless is having doubts. Being fearless is being okay saying goodbye. Being fearless is picking yourself up and brushing yourself off every time you fall. Being fearless is trying again even though you've failed so many times before. Being fearless is letting your heart over power your mind. Love is fearless, even if that same love hurts you more than you could have ever.

That day was one of those days where she tried so hard to be fearless but no matter how hard she tried, she ended up in tears anyway. Sliding down the wall, the tears that had been welling in her blind eyes spilled over. The choked sound in the back of her throat finally came out. She had never been so scared.

No one was there to help her. De Shi was killed in the war and no one would help her, a bitter, blind, pregnant woman with nowhere to go. She wouldn't go back home and be stifled, Aang and Katara had their own life in Southern Water Tribe, and Sokka lived on Kyoshi Island with his girlfriend.

Toph could feel the little heartbeat inside of her. It made a smile spread across her face, despite the tears. The little heartbeat was fast but strong. It felt stronger than she was right then.

She closed her eyes and inhaled the sweet scent of cherry blossoms. Her tearstained cheeks felt the sun beating down on them. Toph let her guard slip and didn't notice someone approaching.

"Toph what's wrong?' The warrior asked, sitting next to her on the ground.

Toph grabbed his hand and put his palm on her stomach, right where she felt her second heartbeat. "I don't have anyone to help me. De Shi was killed in the war."

"Toph I am so sorry." Sokka said with true concern in her voice. He wrapped his strong arms around his best friend. Toph melted into his arms and cried into his shoulder.

The scene was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. "Hello?" the familiar voice belonged to Katara. She opened the door. "Toph what happened?"

Sokka stood and embraced his sister. "Toph's pregnant and her husband died in the war. She's shaken up something fierce." He whispered into her ear. Katara sat by her blind friend and offered her best condolences.

Toph was surprised by the fact that Sokka had been so helpful, so loving. She often found him at her apartment in downtown Ba Sing Se when she woke in the mornings. She also often found Sokka placing a hand on her stomach and feeling the small heartbeat that was inside of her. She never knew he could be so supportive and encouraging.

As the weeks past, Sokka showed up at Toph's house more and more often. Toph's surprise grew with her stomach with each passing week. Sooner than she would have liked, the day came when Toph's child was ready to be born. Sokka took charge that day. He called a carriage and helped Toph get to the hospital. He held her hand as she gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

She thought she was scared before but the fear she experienced then was stronger than anything else she had ever experienced. She felt weak for fearing. She felt weak for crying. She felt weak through to her very core. The thing Toph didn't realize is that none of those things made her weak.

They made her fearless.


	3. 65: Birth

#66—Life

Beads of sweat build on her forehead. Flashes of heat and flashes of cold course through her body. Finally, infant cries mix with laughter and fill the room. Relief courses through Toph's veins.

Sokka did something unexpected. He leaned over the bed and pressed his lips to hers. Toph's eyes first widened in surprise, then closed in satisfaction. This was everything she ever wanted. A family. A lover. He was everything she ever wanted. He was perfect: kind, comical, and encouraging. He was her everything.

Their tongues danced in the opposite's mouth as their kiss became more and more passionate. Suddenly, Toph pulled away. "What are we doing Sokka? We can't do this."

"What? Why not?" Sokka sounded hurt and confused.

Toph sighed. "I have Lin to take care of now and you have Suki to love. This is wrong."

"But I love you Toph, not Suki. What I experienced with Suki was just a rebound, not love." Sokka explained.

Toph's face fell. "Even so, taking care of Lin is something I have to do on my own."

"No it's not Toph. You are going to need the help of all of your friends. But the most important thing is that Lin is going to need a father." The warrior said.

"But you love Suki. I don't want you to settle, and you shouldn't. You deserve better than that Sokka." Toph said mournfully.

Sokka sighed and looked into Toph's blind eyes. "I don't want to settle, so I'm choosing you. Suki was just the rebound; she was the first girl I saw after losing Yue so of course I was going to like her."

Cutting the friends' conversation short, a nurse handed Toph a blanket of a light pink containing an infant. "Snoozles, what does she look like?" The blind woman asked.

"Just like you. She looks just like you Toph." The warrior said, leaning down to kiss her on the top of her head. Toph smiled, everything was perfect.

It was the start of a new chapter in Toph's life.


	4. 86: How

#81—How

Toph's POV:

My head reels when I wake. What happened? The last thing that I remember is making out with some Water Tribe kid at the club. Everything is just so fuzzy. What did I drink?

My stomach churns as I sit up and I can feel the food from last night make its way up my throat. I swallow the lump of digested food. When I stand up, vomit returns to my throat. I bolt out of my tent and spew the vile contents of my stomach on the ground.

Sokka's POV:

What did I do? What have I gotten myself into? Breaking my train of thought, Katara barges into my tent. I make a poor attempt to cover my half naked body.

My sister turns her head. "Put some clothes on so we can talk." She commands in the motherly tone she always possessed.

I pull on a shirt, wrap my blanket around my legs, and pat the spot next to me as I sit down. "What's up?"

"What happened last night?" Katara's tone is worried so I know something is genuinely wrong.

"I don't exactly know. Why do you care?" I ask; I'm not trying to be defensive but I can't wrap my head around why she would care.

She rubs the back of her neck. "Well, Toph is sobbing in her tent. This is sure to cause concern."

My jaw falls to the floor. "What? Why?"

"Well, she's kinda pregnant."

Now I'm truly puzzled, if not surprised. "Wha—How?"

"Sokka, we've been over this. When a man and a woman love each other very much—"

I cut her off. "Cut the crap Katara I'm serious. Who did this to her?"

"I don't know, but I have a blood sample that I intent to take to Ba Sing Se University today. There, they supposedly have a way to DNA test it." Katara explains.

I don't hesitate to jump to this reply. "I'm coming with you."

"Fine. Get your boomerang, we leave at noon." My sister commands.

We hop onto the large beast and Katara sits at the head of Team Avatar's one and only flying bison: Appa. I sit, chewing my nails on his saddle. Finally, after hours of flying, we land. I instantly hop off of Appa's back. Katara soon follows.

"The university is in the middle of the city so it'll be about an hour's journey on foot." The motherly girl who I was raised with says when her feet hit the ground.

I groan. "Are you serious? Couldn't we call a cab?"

"Do you have any Yuan's?" My sister asks, implying the fact that we have no means of paying for the cab ride. We begin the journey on foot.

The doors of Ba Sing Se University come into view. We run to them. Pulling them open reveals the calm campus. My sister and I approach the DNA testing lab.

"Hello? Yes um we would like to do a DNA test. We have the blood sample right here. Our friend is pregnant and we wanna know who the father is." I say hurriedly. Katara hands over the sample. Now comes the waiting.

Katara's POV:

"The test is finished." The professor says, indicating to the screen. On the screen, is a picture of a familiar Water Tribe man. My hands instantly ball into fists. How could he? Why had he done this to her? How would we tell Toph? She would beat the crap out of him. I couldn't let her do that. Sokka might bother the crap out of me, but he is my brother.

I look over at my brother whose face is white as snow. He must be as surprised as I am, if not more. The picture on the screen makes my head spin with anger and confusion. What happened last night?

Toph's POV:

Where did Katara go? Right now, I need her more than anything. She is the only who can even remotely understand. It's not like Aang can.

My head pounds from the echo of my heartbeat reverberating around my skull. The echo increases in volume and I squeeze my eyes closed. After a while of this, my eyelids relax in sleep.

Sokka's POV:

My fingers peel back the flap that acts as a door to Toph's tent. Beads of sweat collect on my forehead from the stress of the situation. I poke my head in the tent and see a sleeping Toph.

"Spirits she's beautiful." My voice is but a whisper.

The light streaming in and weaving through her hair is just enough for her to stir. As quietly as I can, I step through the doorway. Obviously I wasn't quiet enough. Toph sits straight up, rubbing her blind eyes. She mumbles a bitter greeting. Toph is always like this when she first wakes up.

"Katara wants to talk to you." I say softly. Toph grunts in reply.

Toph's POV:

Grunting, I shoo Sokka out of my tent and stand to walk from the canvas structure. I sense the vibrations of Katara. "Okay Sugar Queen, what do you want?"

"Before I tell you anything, you have to promise you won't pummel Sokka into the ground." She says.

"Okay I promise."

Katara shakes her head. "No, you have to Element Swear." She says, holding out her hand for a shake. I accept, rolling my eyes.

"Okay, now what is it?" I ask in a grumpy tone.

Katara rubs the back of her neck. "Um, so I went to Ba Sing Se University to find out who the father is and it turns out it's someone very close to all of us."

"Okay, who is it?"

"Sokka."

Katara's POV:

It's not even a second after I say this that I can see the rage boiling inside of her. "Where is that little—Ow!" The ice I used in the Element Swear digs into her skin before she can even finish her sentence.

"And that is why I made you Element Swear that you wouldn't hurt him." I say, crossing my arms triumphantly at my bellybutton.

A look of pure hatred crosses Toph's face. "I hate you Sugar Queen."

"I know you do, but you will be very grateful for me in nine months." After I say this, the angry look on Toph's face vanishes. "Well, I'm going to go make dinner. You stay in your tent, okay?"

Toph nods her head and I exit the tent. A bush which is poorly concealing a person comes into my line of sight. "Sokka?"

"Can I come out? Is Toph gonna beat me up?" My brother asks in a shaky voice.

I sigh. "Come out. Toph is not going to beat you up."

Sokka's POV:

My knees straighten and I walk from behind the bush. "How did she take the news?"

"Well, if I hadn't made Element Swear not to hurt you, you would be fifty feet underground right now, seeing as she can even bend still." Katara replies as a wave of gratitude and relief flashes across my face.

I pull her into my chest and mutter my thanks. We walk to the fire pit. The landscape is drastically different from what it was seven years ago. Seven years ago, my sister and I found the Avatar in an iceberg. He had deserted us for one hundred years but Katara still had faith in him. She was right of course, but along the way, bumps often caused us to lose hope.

Toph's voice cuts through the silence of the peaceful scene. "Sugar Queen! Get in here!"

My sister's feet crunch the small rocks of the path to the blind girl' tent. When her figure disappears into the tent, I silently step towards the tent.

"What I want to know is what happened last night. I want to know how this happened to me. Why would I let Snoozles of all people do that to me?" Toph asks.

"Toph, you were drunk. You did things you wouldn't normally do."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." Toph says nonchalantly. "But how did it happen?"


	5. 91: Bound

#91—Bound

Sokka's POV:

_Don't worry Toph; I'll be a real man and stay. And I promise: even when things get hard, I'll stay and help you through it._ My thoughts ring out and reverberate around my skull.

Hearing footsteps, I raise one knee and pretend that I'm tying my moccasin. Katara soon emerge from the tent. "Hey Sokka, Toph wants to talk to you in the tent." My sister says.

I instantly step into the tent and see Toph. She is sitting cross-legged with her head down. For the second time today, I think this thought. _Spirits she's beautiful._ I take a soft step towards her.

"Sit down." She commands.

I comply. "What's up?" I know what's coming. She's going to tell me how it's going to go down.

"This is how it's gonna be. You're gonna wait silently in the sidelines while I take care of this on my own." Toph says in a voice that implies she is trying to stay strong.

I slide closer to her and wrap my arms around her. "Toph, I will _never_ leave. I will stay even when things get real hard."


	6. 67: Death

#67—Death

Her frail body shook with each decreasing breath. The old man stood next to his wife and patted her hand over and over, tears spilling over his cheeks. When she spoke, her voice was weak and barely audible. "Sokka, gather out friends."

The old man instantly left her side and ran to the door. He ushered in the rest of the GAang. "Here they are Love." He said, kissing her wrinkled hand. Katara held back a sob behind her hand. She reassuringly patted her brother's back.

"Come closer." Toph wheezed. "I know I only have a few moments of life left, but I want you all to know that I will always love you all. I will never forget you. Sokka, I now turn my address to you. You have been the love of my life since the very first day I met you. You had your eyes on other girls for a while but I never lost hope. You'd come around. You did and look how it turned out." The withered woman stopped to catch her breath. "I will always and forever love you. Just remember that." The woman touched his cheek. A moment later, her hand fell limp to her side. The last moments of her life had passed.

The man fell to his knees. The pain that gathered in his chest was overwhelming. Aang could hear his heart breaking. Salty tears poured down his cheeks and splattered on the wooden floor. His blue eyes showed the hurt. Katara placed a hand on his shoulder. Sokka angrily shook it off. "Get out!" He screamed, the pressure of the moment falling onto his shoulders.

Aang and his wife slowly backed out of the small room, leaving Sokka alone to wail on the floor.

The man clawed at the sheets on the bed in desperation. The love of his life was gone. There was no saving her. His tears began to gather into a puddle on the floor. The heartbreak was evident. The catch in his throat became too much and he broke down into hysteria. He cried out in agony and pounded his fists into the mattress. The hysterias took a lot out of him. With drained energy, he took slow steps to the stairs.

Finding the energy to even move proved a task even more difficult than all those of the war. The grief was almost too much to bear. It broke the hearts of those who loved him. It was obvious that his hopes had been lost long before in the despair of losing her.

Why did death have to crush the hopes of those its victims?


	7. 93: Fish

#93—Fish

The evening light dissolved into the mountains. He climbed the steps to the door. Pulling it open, he saw a girl of three years of age sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Hey kid." He said, reaching down to pick up the toddler.

"Sokka!" The innocent child said, not knowing he was her father.

The man rested the child on his hip. "Lin!"

"Are you gonna take me home?" She asked with a yawn.

"Of _course_!" The tribesman said, forgetting about the stressful day of work he had had. She always had a knack of doing that to him.

She snuggled deeper into her covers. He sat on the edge of the bed. "So kid, wanna story tonight?"

"Yes!" Lin giggled, hugging Snoogly Bear tighter.

Sokka rested his thumb and index finger on opposite sides of his chin, in thought. "Hmm, let's see. Once upon a time there was a fish. This fish loved his best friend, a mermaid named Ariel. One day, Ariel met a handsome human. From that day forth, Ariel would do anything in her power to become human, to have legs. One day, Ariel did something that allowed her to have legs. The fish's heart broke. He loved Ariel, but she pushed him to the side to live happily ever after with this man. Eventually, the man broke her heart. The fish's heart broke even further. Even though she had broken his heart once, it still broke every time hers broke. Ariel lived her life, not taking notice of the fish. The end."

"No! It can't end like that! The fish and the mermaid have to get married." Lin protested.

Sokka sighed. "Well sometimes things don't always end the way you want them to.'

Lin crossed her arms in front of her chest grumpily. "Humph!" She exclaimed, shutting her eyes sleepily.

Sokka kissed her forehead and stood. He turned on his heels. "What kinda crap story was that?" Toph asked.

"Like I said, things don't always end the way you want them to." Sokka said, shrugging.

Toph sighed. "You know she loves happy endings."

"I know, but not everyone gets one." He says, intending to walk past the Earthbender.

Toph placed a hand on Sokka's chest. Electricity shot through his entire body. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home?" Sokka questioned.

"Wrong-o. You're not going anywhere."

The expression on his face was one of confusion. "Okay…" The tribesman says, walking to the living room. He sits on the couch and Toph comes to his side a moment later.

"I get the feeling there was a deeper meaning to your story." Toph says with honesty ringing in her voice.

"Psh what? No." Sokka lied.

Toph gave him a look. "I know you're lying." She said.

"Okay fine there was deeper meaning." He admitted.

Toph paused a moment, waiting for him to continue. "And the deeper meaning would be..?"

"Toph, I've loved you since the day I met you but you fell in love with Haru and then he broke your heart. I wanted to kill him that day, but I restrained myself because you loved him." He paused. "Toph, I cried myself to sleep for a long time when you were pregnant with Lin and didn't let anyone in. I was heartbroken. Toph, I felt like you should let me help you because I am Lin's father. But you never let me in and left me broken."

Toph swallowed all the guilt that had piled inside her throat. "Well, I guess this is my apology. I'm sorry for all that but now, I realize I love you and need your help. That's why, I want to marry you."

Shock shot through Sokka's veins. She wanted to marry her. Everything he ever wanted was coming to pass. "Really?"

"Yeah, I don't want you to have to be the fish anymore."


End file.
